Новости за 02.09.2017

Floodwaters have inundated at least five highly contaminated toxic waste sites near Houston, raising concerns that the pollution there might spread. The Associated Press visited the sites this past week, some of them still only accessible by boat. Long a center of the American petrochemical industry, the Houston metro area has more than a dozen such Superfund sites, designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being among the most intensely contaminated places in the country. No immediate... Читать дальше...

Speaking in Washington on Friday night after four days of testy and inconclusive talks in Brussels with EU negotiators, the British minister overseeing Brexit negotiations, David Davis, offered the admission that Britain is weighing whether to join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Such an arrangement could at least be temporary while Britain tries to negotiate a better deal for itself with the EU, the country's largest trading partner.   Joining the EFTA would allow Britain to secure... Читать дальше...

A U.S. drone strike reportedly has killed a key al-Shabab commander in southern Somalia, officials tell VOA. Local sources said the strike on Friday targeted a vehicle in which several al-Shabab officials were traveling near Kunya Barrow village in the southern Somali region of Lower Shabelle. "I can confirm that the airstrike happened on Friday. It was carried out by a suspected U.S. drone. The strike targeted al-Shabab officials. Our intelligence sources confirm that a top al-Shabab commander... Читать дальше...

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned a United States diplomat to Moscow in order to formally protest the planned search of Russian compounds in America. In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned Anthony F. Godfrey, a deputy chief at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, over the planned “illegal inspection” of a Russian diplomatic building in Washington, which is set to be closed Saturday. The Russians called the planned inspection an “unprecedented aggressive action,”... Читать дальше...

VOA Aerial Shots of Post-Harvey Houston

Nearly 16 million children are "in urgent need of life-saving support" as a result of the catastrophic flooding that has ravaged South Asia, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. "Children have lost their homes, schools and even friends and loved ones," UNICEF South Asia Director Jean Gough said in a statement. Gough said conditions could worsen as the torrential monsoon rains that have flooded the region continue. UNICEF said the devastating floods have claimed nearly 1,300 lives... Читать дальше...

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Saturday the country has "a problem" with its judiciary that must be fixed. He was speaking a day after the Supreme Court annulled his election win last month and ordered a new poll within 60 days. "We shall revisit this thing. We clearly have a problem," he said, referring to the judiciary. "Who even elected you? Were you? We have a problem and we must fix it," he said, speaking on live television at the State House in Nairobi after he met with governors... Читать дальше...

Australia plans to hold a non-binding postal survey this month to gauge support for changing its Marriage Act to include same-sex couples.  Campaigning on the change has started, and is already divisive and controversial, while a case challenging the survey is scheduled to be heard in Australia’s High Court.    Opponents of marriage reform in Australia are making their case in online ads and on television.  In them, they claim that should same-sex couples be allowed to marry, there would be serious consequences for children... Читать дальше...

Officials say seven Kenyan schoolgirls have died in a fire in their dormitory in the capital. "We have lost seven students in this unfortunate incident," Education Minister Fred Matiangi said when he visited the Moi Girls High School in Nairobi. The minister said the school will be closed for two weeks to allow investigators to conduct a probe.   "We have to get to the bottom of this matter," Matiangi said. Authorities say police are attempting to establish whether there is a connection between... Читать дальше...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend this month's  United Nations General Assembly in New York, Russian news wire quoted his spokesman as saying on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of the United Nations, will seek to gather global support for reforming the world body when he hosts an event at U.N. headquarters in New York on September 18, a day before he formally addresses the 193-member organization. It was not immediately clear if Putin had planned to attend the event initially.

Floodwaters are beginning to recede around Houston, and although Hurricane Harvey has dissipated, the health problems have not. In fact, some are just beginning.  Aerial views of Houston Friday showed that just about everything is under water. It’s what’s in and under that water that has public health workers concerned. More people could die after Harvey’s long gone than during the worst of the storm. Health officials are telling people to stay out of the water if possible, although it’s too late for many. Читать дальше...

In Cambodia, the issue of land rights is a constant source of tension. The country’s biggest dam to date is set to go online in weeks, adding 400 megawatts of power to the country’s critically overstretched grid. But the social and environmental costs of the project are huge, especially for minority villagers facing displacement. In rural Stung Treng province, some members of an indigenous group are taking a stand. David Boyle has this report.

A judge in Virginia heard arguments but didn’t issue a final ruling Friday on whether a lawsuit over Charlottesville’s decision to remove the Confederate monument should proceed. A decision that helped spark a violent white nationalist rally.    The judge sided with Charlottesville on some points, removing them from further consideration. But he said he needed more time to study the “main issue,” the question of whether a state law on memorials for war veterans amended in the 1990s applies retroactively, protecting the statue of Gen. Читать дальше...

The smoke from massive wildfires hangs like fog over large parts of the U.S. West, an irritating haze causing health concerns, forcing sports teams to change schedules and disrupting life from Seattle to tiny Seeley Lake, Montana.   Air quality has been rated unhealthy across the region because of blazes that show no signs of abating. Officials said Friday that one of the worst U.S. wildfire seasons in terms of land burned is likely to keep scorching Western states and blanketing them with smoke until later this fall. Читать дальше...

More than 2,600 houses have been burned down in Rohingya-majority areas of Myanmar’s northwest in the last week, the government said Saturday, in one of the deadliest bouts of violence involving the Muslim minority in decades. About 58,600 Rohingya have fled into neighboring Bangladesh from Myanmar, according to U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, as aid workers there struggle to cope. Myanmar officials blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) for the burning of the homes. The group claimed responsibility... Читать дальше...

Serena Williams has given birth to a baby girl, the first child for the former world’s No. 1 tennis player, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said via Twitter Friday. The 35-year-old American, who is engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has not competed since winning the Australian Open in January but has posted several videos to social media showing her hitting balls during her pregnancy. “Congratulations @SerenaWilliams for your baby girl. I am so happy for you and I feel your emotion,” Mouratoglou wrote. Читать дальше...

Tropical Storm Lidia flooded streets and homes, stranded tourists and left at least four people dead as it lashed resorts and cities on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula with heavy rains. Authorities said the death toll could rise over the weekend as emergency crews surveyed the damage in villages with ramshackle homes. One person was considered missing and video broadcast on local networks showed vehicles being swept away by flooded rivers. The mayor of the twin resorts of Los Cabos, Arturo de la Rosa Escalante... Читать дальше...

A Utah nurse said she was scared to death when a police officer handcuffed and dragged her screaming from a hospital after she refused to allow blood to be drawn from an unconscious patient. After Alex Wubbels and her attorneys released dramatic video of the arrest, prosecutors called for a criminal investigation and Salt Lake City police put Detective Jeff Payne on paid leave Friday. “This cop bullied me. He bullied me to the utmost extreme,” Wubbels said in an interview with The Associated Press. Читать дальше...

Japan is debating whether to develop a limited pre-emptive strike capability and buy cruise missiles — ideas that were anathema in the pacifist country before the North Korea missile threat. With revisions to Japan’s defense plans underway, ruling party hawks are accelerating the moves, and some defense experts say Japan should at least consider them. After being on the backburner in the ruling party for decades, a possibility of pre-emptive strike was formally proposed to Prime Minister Shinzo... Читать дальше...

A day before he planned to visit the flood-devastated Houston area, President Donald Trump sent a letter to Congress, seeking nearly $8 billion in aid for relief and recovery efforts in Texas and Louisiana. The request, considered just an initial Harvey relief package, includes $7.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) rapidly dwindling disaster aid fund and $450 million for disaster loans to small-business owners. Trump and first lady Melania Trump will visit Houston on Saturday as well as Lake Charles... Читать дальше...

While floodwaters are still high in some Houston neighborhoods near reservoirs, water is receding in other parts of the city. As those roads become passable again, people who were trapped at home by Hurricane Harvey are starting to venture out in search of gas and groceries. What they are finding depends on where they live. Chinatown spared In a largely immigrant neighborhood in southwest Houston, the Chinese grocery store named Welcome has taken on new meaning after the storm and flooding devastated Houston... Читать дальше...

American musician Eric Alabaster loves Pakistani food, culture, speaks Urdu, and plays "Desi" music. His music studio in Brooklyn, New York, is known as "Little Pakistan." VOA Deewaa's Samin Ahsan has his story.

Homelessness is a serious problem, and there are a variety of approaches to combating it. Faith Lapidus has the story of one effort to tackle the problem in Los Angeles, one tiny house at a time.

U.S. home builders created more than a million units of housing in 2016. Often, older homes are demolished to make way for the new buildings, and things like doors, floors, windows and more are thrown away. Arash Arabasadi reports from Washington on one nonprofit that reclaims old materials and gives back to the community.

Hurricane Harvey may temporarily slow U.S. consumer spending, hurt national economic growth and boost unemployment for a while. Experts say it is very hard to accurately predict just how seriously Harvey will hurt Houston and the U.S. economy. But, as VOA's Jim Randle reports, one expert on the Texas economy is bullish on Houston's recovery.